Numbers are retired for a reason

Omar Vizquel has worn number 13 his entire career. Now that he’s with the White Sox, he can no longer wear 13 because manager Ozzie Guillen wears that number. To give Vizquel a number close to 13 they unretired Luis Aparicio’s number 11. No one’s making a big deal about it now but I don’t think it’s right to unretire someone’s number. It is supposed to honor the player and his contributions to the team they played for.

No one would ever go to the Chicago Bulls and try to wear Michael Jordan’s number 23. It would be unthinkable and outrageous. No one would ever go to any of Wayne Gretzkeys teams and wear number 99. No one would ever go to the 49ers and wear Joe Montana’s or Jerry Rice’s numer. In Nascar no one will ever drive a car with the number 3 on it.

The only time a number should be unretired is if the player comes back out of retirement or become a coach. When numbers are retired they need to stay retired.